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chaoticentitywrites · 1 year

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The Truth is Worse Than the Lie Chapter 1

It has finally arrived! Yay! Ngl been putting this off for a hot minute but eh, might as well post it before I psych myself out. It should also be up on AO3 in about a week, still waiting on being able to make an account. Please keep in mind this is my first fanfic and also the first thing that I've written in like, eight or nine months. Any constructive criticism is welcome, and please let me know if I missed any trigger warnings! Enjoy. :::D

TW: swearing

Taglist: @aaleyahcianna @you-were-never-even-a-player @sofia-not-sophie

(Let me know if you want to be removed or added to the taglist, or if I forgot anyone)

Shocking News! Keefe and Tam Argue

Fitz stood outside of Mr. Forkle’s office, waiting on Tam and Keefe.

Mr. Forkle had hailed him about twenty minutes ago telling him to come to his secret office, telling him that Dex had found some information about the human that Keefe had delivered the letter two. Dex and Forkle were already inside the office, so now he was just waiting on the other two.

Grizel was waiting beside Fitz, giving him a look. Before he could ask what that was about, Tam and Keefe both appeared before him, Ro a few feet behind Keefe, and Tam’s bodyguards presumably somewhere below them. Keefe waved as he arrived, and Tam gave him a nod.

Ro bounced up to them, with Tam and Keefe following.

“Where is Dex and Mr. Forkle?” Tam asked, looking around.

“Already inside,” Fitz said, walking towards the door, “come on, we should figure out what Dex found.”

Mr. Forkle turned to them as the three of them walked in, Ro and Grizel waiting outside with Lovise, “Mr. Sencen, Mr. Tam, Mr. Vacker. I see you have all made it.”

“Hey, Forklenator!” Keefe said as he walked in, “what’s going on? We heard Dex found something on the mysterious human?” He did a weird shimmy thing with his head and wiggled his fingers as he said that, to which both Fitz and Tam rolled their eyes at.

“Yep!” Dex said, turning to them. Fitz noted that he looked tired, as if he’d stayed up all night. “Now, that you guys are here, I can tell you. What even took you guys so long? Actually, never mind, I don’t wanna know.”

“Shouldn’t we be waiting for Sophie?” Fitz asked, looking at Mr. Forkle.

“Sophie isn’t coming, neither are any of the girls. They have already been sent on some other business needing attention,” Forkle replied, “Mr. Dizznee, if you would please tell us what you’ve found?”

Dex nodded, “Okay, so, it isn’t much to go on, but Keefe wasn’t the only one to give him a letter,” he paused, looking at Fitz for a split second, then looking away. “A while before Keefe gave him a letter, he visited New York. You guys know where New York is, right? Nevermind, it doesn’t really matter. Anyways, I was able to find some footage of him at the hotel he was staying at, and another person we know was part of the Neverseen also delivered a letter to him.”

Dex fully stopped as he said this, nervously looking at Fitz again, as an image came up on the screen.

It was of the human and Alvar.

“Oh,” he said, looking to his left as he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Keefe. Fitz nodded his thanks and turned back to Dex, “did you find out anything else?”

Dex nodded, “apparently, he was there to visit some distant family. Business owners Mark Dare, Sasha Dare, and their daughter, Rachel Dare. They’re cousins. Distantly. After Ethan Wright and his daughter died, they had their bodies moved to a private family cemetery. And about a week after Alvar disappeared, he showed up in Central Park in New York.” Another picture appeared on screen, it was blurry, obviously supposed to be focused on someone else, but there he was, sitting on a bench, and talking to a girl with red hair. “The girl with red hair is Rachel Dare.”

The room was silent. Everyone was staring at Fitz. He didn’t like it.

“Are you okay, Fitz?” Keefe asked, his hand still of Fitz’ shoulder.

“Is…” Fitz started, “do you have any more information? On Alvar, I mean. Or why he was talking to that girl?”

Dex shook his head, “no, I’m sorry.”

And he did look sorry. They all did, everyone in the room. Fitz decided to ignore it, shaking off Keefe’s hand and turning to Mr. Forkle.

“We need to find out what he was doing there. It could be important,” he said.

Mr. Forkle nodded, “Which is why the four of you are here. You will all be going to New York to find Alvar or locate Ms. Rachel Dare.” He gave Fitz a look, “that is, if you are all up for it?”

The four boys all nodded, and after getting a game plan going, they agreed to meet at Dex’s house in a few hours. Fitz was about to leave, but Keefe stopped him.

“Hey,” he said, “are you okay? I mean, I know you’re not, but do you want to talk about it?”

Fitz thought about it for a second.

“Yeah,” he ended up saying, surprising himself, “I would. Not at my house, though. I don’t think I can look at Biana without telling her, and I’m not sure if I should right now.”

Keefe nodded, “got it. We can go to Elwin’s, if you’re okay with that. I think I have some human clothes hidden away somewhere, anyways.”

“Thanks,” Fitz said, right before Keefe took out his Pathfinder and leaped them to Elwin’s.

They both walked to Keefe’s room, Ro giving them a thumbs up as she talked to Grizel about the best fungus to prank someone with.

“So,” Fitz said, as he looked around the room, “have you been settling in well? Is, uh, is Elwin…”

“What?” Keefe asked as he started digging through some drawers, “is he still nicer that my father? Yeah, he is. He’s great, actually.” Keefe looked up and grinned at him, but there was still a bit of concern in his eyes. “That’s not why we’re here though, is it?”

Fitz was silent as he sat down in a fluffy chair, admiring a painting sitting on an easel next to a window. “Did you paint this?” Fitz knew the answer, he just wasn’t ready to talk quite yet.

Keefe stopped digging through the drawer, throwing some clothes onto his bed and going to sit in the chair across from Fitz. “Yep. It’s of a place I found when I was in the Forbidden Cities. I found a few cool places. Kind of thought everything would be ugly and terrible while I was there, but it turns out, not everywhere looks as bad as it smells.”

Fitz smiled a bit at that, appreciating the attempt at making him feel better. The two sat there for a while, as Keefe talked about stuff that happened and things he’d seen in the Forbidden Cities. He talked about feeding ducks at a park, seeing graffiti in alleyways, helping out a few people, that one time someone tried to mug him, (Fitz got worried at that part, but Keefe said he kicked their asses,) and a few other things. The entire time Keefe was talking, Fitz was thinking about Alvar.

“Why do you think he was there?” Fitz asked, interrupting Keefe as he was talking about some donut shop in Paris. “Alvar, I mean. Why was he there? Why was he talking to that girl? Do you think he was trying to find out information on Ethan? But he’s part of the Neverseen, so why would he need to know?”

Keefe was silent for a moment, eventually responding, “I don’t know. I wish I could tell you, but I don’t know. We’ll figure it out, and we’ll find him. And when we do, we’ll kick his ass and ask questions after.”

“I hope we find him in a grave,” Fitz said, looking out the window. He didn’t need to look at Keefe to know what face he was making.

“What?” Keefe asked. “I mean. Okay, I know you’re mad at him, or furious, or whatever stronger word there is for it, but, dead? That’s… you’re serious, aren’t you?”

Fitz nodded, “yes. And I know that that’s bad. I know it’s a bad thing to hope we don’t find him or find him dead. But he was my hero, Keefe. He was my brother, and I looked up to him! I loved him! And he hurt Sophie and Dex, and so many other people. He pretended to help us only to stab us in the back and he showed no remorse for it. I spent so many nights after thinking ‘maybe it wasn’t him, maybe it was someone else, pretending to be him. Maybe they took him, and we have to get him back because this can’t be my brother’. But I was wrong, and it is my brother, and he hurt me, and my friends, and I… I still love him. And I hate that I do.”

Keefe was quiet, uncharacteristically so, and Fitz took that as a sign to keep talking.

“Y’know, one time when I was a lot younger, me and dad got in a big fight. I don’t remember what it was about, but I ended up hiding in some random closet and crying for like, two hours straight. Alvar was the one who found me, and he snuck me back to his room. He wrapped me in this huge fluffy blanket he had that he never let anyone else borrow and gave me some mallowmelt and told me stories from school. We sat there until like, four in the morning laughing our asses off as he told me some random stories, some I swear he made up. In the end, we talked about the fight, and I was still pissed at dad, and he told me it was okay if I was still mad. That everyone gets mad sometimes, even him. and you don’t have to ignore it. He was the first person to tell me that. I think I ended up apologizing to dad in the morning. But I still think about that memory sometimes, and I wonder if Alvar was in the Neverseen at that point. I wonder if he cared for me, at that point, or if the Neverseen had already made him… different. Sometimes, I try and figure out when he got recruited. When my brother died, and whoever the hell took his place appeared. So, yeah. I hope we find him six feet down and rotting, because that bastard killed my brother. And if he’s not dead when we find him? I’ll kill him myself.”

They didn’t talk much after he said that. He could tell Keefe was a bit put off by what he had said, and he kind of regretted saying so much, but he meant it. The next few hours passed by quick enough, and then they were standing in human clothes with Ro and Grizel standing with them in front of Dex’s house. The door opened and there stood Dex, also in human clothes, looking a bit disheveled as there was a slight crash behind him.

“Hey guys!” He said, letting them in, “ignore the crash, the triplets decided to play tag with Tam. He’s been running for his life for about twenty minutes now. As long as you stay out of their way, it’s pretty entertaining!”

“For you!” Fitz heard Tam yell from farther down the hall.

Dex grinned at them, “I have so many videos of Tam running into walls now.” “Awesome!” Keefe said, giving Dex a high five, “can I have those?”

There was a bang and the three of them heard a “ha!” right before Tam came speeding around the corner, “can we please go before the three terrors catch up to me? No offense, Dex, but they are terrors.”

“No problem, I’ve been calling them terrors since they were born,” Dex said, “I’ve got the Pathfinder, so if everyone is ready, we can head out.”

“Hold on,” Ro said before they could do anything, “before you leave, you three,” she pointed to Dex, Tam, and him before continuing, “have to promise not to let Runs-Away-From-His-Problems out of your sight.” She glared at Keefe as she said that last part, Keefe giving her an offended look in return.

“Don’t worry,” Dex promised, “if he tries to run off, me and Fitz will hold him down while Tam messes up his hair.”

“What? How dare you!” Keefe yelled at the same time as Tam said, “I’m down for that.”

Fitz nodded, “we promise.”

Ro let them go after that, (well, after Lovise and Grizel gave them a very long speech about sticking together) and they could hear their bodyguards getting tackled by the triplets right before they leaped away.

As soon as he landed, Fitz noticed the smell, and the very loud noises. He then registered that he was in what looked like an abandoned building, the hole in the roof letting light in. Looking around, he spotted a lot of graffiti, and what looked like a few things people used to sleep on.

“Alright, so, where are we going?” Fitz asked, turning to Dex.

“Central Park,” He answered, “that’s where, uh, Alvar, was spotted with Dare, so. That’s where we’re going first.”

“Right.” Tam said, “and how, exactly, do we get there?”

“I’m so glad you asked, Tam.” Dex said, “we walk! Using our legs. Like humans.”

Tam glared at him, “I know that, but which way do we go?”

After Dex and Tam stopped bickering, the four of them continued on their way. As they walked, Tam and Keefe bickered. The joys of friendship.

If they didn’t die on this mission, Fitz was going to throw them both off of a cliff. Lovingly. Knowing they will not die. Unless he knocks them out first. Which is a possibility.

As they walked, Dex pointed out random stuff, like cars, buses, lights, and other stuff while explaining how they worked. Fitz didn’t really understand it, but it drowned out Tam and Keefe’s bickering, so he was grateful. Besides, it had been a while since he’d heard Dex talk so much, especially so… excitedly. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed talking to him.

Eventually, they reached the park, and somehow, Tam and Keefe were still arguing.

Fitz turned to them, “I don’t suppose you could pause this argument and help us look for Dare?”

The two looked at each other, then nodded.

“Consider the argument paused,” Tam said, “now, where should we start looking?”

“Well, Dare was spotted by the lake,” Dex started, “so, probably start there? And just, walk around it?”

“That’s as good of a place to start as any,” Fitz said, “uh, which way is the lake?”

As soon as Fitz said that, he saw a sign pointing him in the direction of the lake, and unfortunately, everyone else saw it too.

“I think,” Keefe said, smiling, “that we go that way.”

“Shut up, Keefe.”

“Oh, absolutely not, Fitzy boy!”

#kotlc #dex dizznee #tam song #fitz vacker #keefe sencen #kotlc/pjo crossover fic #TTWTL #The Truth is Worse Than the Lie #might change the name of the fic at some point ngl #im watching MHA whilst posting this #there is one line that i will never be able to top #i think you guys can figure out which one it is #ye

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squishmallow36 · 2 years

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Keeper of the Lost Prepositions - Fifty-eight

Word count: 2.7k

Tw: Dex's social anxiety

Taglist (lmk if you want to be added/removed!): @stellar-lune @gaslight-gaetkeep-gayboss @kamikothe1and0lny @nyxpixels @florida-fruity-frog @poppinspop @crystallinewalker @uni-seahorse-572 @solreefs @never-mourn-the-good @rusted-phone-calls @when-wax-wings-melt @cotyledon-tomentosa @good-old-fashioned-lover-boy7 @dexter-dizzknees @abubble125 @cherryberrybitch @blossomsxgalorex

On Ao3 or below the cut!

“Dexter,” Fitz says, in an attempt to get my attention, which has been lost in a game of Geometry Dash.

I crash into a spike and reply, “Yes?”

“The Forklenator is calling a meeting.”

“Okay…?” I run into the side of a platform.

“You’re being taken to the meeting. Get yourself a copy of the specs and we’re going to Havenfield.”

I reluctantly close my Geometry Dash tab and forward Gisela’s most recent email to my personal account.

“Okay, I’m good.”

“Where’s the Leapmaster?”

“There wasn’t a need for one. Tinker didn’t leave the house. I guess that means we’ve gotta hit Rimeshire first and then to Havenfield. Unless you’ve started carrying around a pathfinder.”

“You’re the regent here. You can apply for one.”

“You are a Vacker. I don’t think they are capable of telling you no.”

“Hey, I was banished with you and Sophie that one time, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I’m sure they’ve conveniently forgotten that.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s fair.”

With that, I hold up my home crystal to leap to Rimeshire, and we step into the light.

At home, we pick up Mom in full Squall disguise, then get ourselves over to Havenfield.

At Havenfield, there are many, many adults pacing, including but probably not limited to the entire collective, Uncle Grady, Aunt Edaline, and Della. I’m sure more people are hiding inside.

We push our way into the front room to find Sophie, Biana, Tam, Linh, Marella, Maruca, and Stina, bodyguards on high alert, just chilling on the sofas because we’ve all been through this routine enough times by now that it’s not even worth arguing with the adults.

Forkle waddles up to Fitz and I, saying, “Mr. Dizznee, I’m going to give it five more minutes for everyone to get over here. I’d like you to explain all of the Technical details, as our resident Technopath.”

I nod before he waddles away, and a wave of irrational nausea engulfs me.

Fitz notices me falter, like he always has to do, and gently holds my shaking hand. “You okay? ‘Cause you’re greener than a T-rex.”

I nod, not trusting my voice at all right now.

“Sure? You know, I could talk to them for you, techy details and all. Your boyfriend is a Telepath.”

I don’t even melt into a gay puddle when he calls me that, I’m so preoccupied with the idea of talking to this many people. “You don’t have to--.”

“Let me be useful. For once.”

I don’t tell him no immediately, so he continues, “Please. I’ve sat around useless while you’ve done that programming thing for so long. Let me do this for you.”

“...fine.” With that one tiny word, the pit in my stomach fills, although I do still feel a bit warm.

Fitz smiles, and my heart decides that this is a good moment to flutter. Oh my stars, he’s gorgeous. Control your thoughts, Dex. For once in your life, don’t get distracted by the Fitz in front of you.

“I’m going to need access to your thoughts. Technical reference.”

The pit in my stomach caves in a bit, but that’s normal enough by now that I can ignore it.

“Yep. I apologize in advance for the things you’ll inevitably find in there.”

“I’m not going to poke around inside your head. Just fyi. As much as I want to know how all of it works.”

“The problem is all of the things that will rise to the top. Or the trains of thought that drive off their tracks.”

“You just have to explain the technical things that no one understands. You’re good at that. You’ve taught me a nonzero amount of things.”

“I go off on tangents very easily.”

“I’ll try to steer you back.” Fitz smiles. He doesn’t understand that he’s one of the many things that drives the train off the tracks. “I can still yell at you. Mentally.”

“Lovely,” I reply, and I immediately hear how that sounds like something he would say. Not sure that’s a bad thing. That accent is glorious.

This apparently took the whole five minutes, as Mr. Forkle is wadding back towards us. “You’re up, Mr. Dizznee.”

Fitz smiles again at me. I don’t know why he’s so smiley today but I’m not going to question it. “I got it.”

When he stands up, I can see his face tighten subtly, presumably because of his knee. I wish I could do something more to help. Hobbling around with the cane I built isn’t good enough.

Forkle clearly doesn’t want to question this, as he continues herding the adults into the room. It’s almost as bad as herding mercats.

Fitz stands up in the front, which is just the island in the Ruewens’ kitchen, and I pull up the email for quick reference.

Can you hear me? I ask, just to make sure Fitz is connected should he need me for anything. But my brain has other ideas and starts playing Imagine Dragons for no good reason. I got a lot that’s on my mind, I cannot breathe. Can you hear it too?

Fitz smiles, subtly glaring at me behind it. I try to rein in my thoughts. “Hello everyone. Can I have your attention please?”

It’s more of a desperate request than a typical greeting, but it gets the job done.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why Mr. Forkle brought you all here, and I do not have a concise answer that will also maintain some semblance of order. Before we begin, I would greatly appreciate it if all questions and comments are held off until the end, as I may answer your question before then.”

The peanut gallery isn’t going to stay quiet for that long.

Fitz ignores me. I’m guessing that means I’m part of the peanut gallery. “Recently, one of our members has taken up a position as a double agent for the Neverseen. Xor parents would not be pleased if they found out, so I will not be disclosing this person’s identity, although it will probably be obvious by the end.”

I scream mentally because he just used xe/xem.

Dex, could you maybe dial it back a few notches for a sec? Scream about your neos later? Thanks. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he cut off our connection entirely.

“This person has recently come into some information about the Neverseen’s possible plans, which happen to include Keefe, because of course they do. Now, knowing him, he is not going to be able to keep himself out of danger.”

Someone snorts, and I can’t be certain, but I have a feeling it’s Uncle Grady.

“This person also has reason to believe there will be an ability amplifier involved. Not much is known, but this combination of Keefe’s new abilities and those abilities being Enhanced is not going to have a favourable outcome.”

“That’s an understatement,” Sophie mutters.

And I’m sure he’ll do anything in his power to make it worse.

Fitz’s face twitches with yet another barely contained smile. “Considering the nature of Keefe’s ability, and the timing of this new information, it is plausible to believe that it may be connected to the reopening of Foxfire next week.”

That is precisely when all Exile breaks loose. All of the adults in the room are talking over each other. Sophie and I just make eye contact.

“If you all yell at the same time no one will hear your questions,” Fitz says, trying to regain control of the room.

Biana sees this and pushes her way to the front. “Everyone! Shut up!”

The room slowly quiets once more.

“Thank you,” Forkle says, pushing them away from the centre of the kitchen. “I’m sure we can figure out the best way to handle all of this.”

“Let me guess,” Sophie calls. “You’re all going to argue for the next week until you don’t have a choice. And then we’re gonna have to handle all of the problems you caused.”

“Kiddo…” Uncle Grady tries to protest.

Sophie snaps, “Don’t ‘kiddo’ me. This is exactly what happened with the Celestial Festival. And Loamnore. We debate until we know what we’re doing backwards and forwards and then we get overconfident and the Neverseen pulls the rug out from beneath us.”

“She’s not wrong,” Maruca mutters,

“Well, what do you propose?” Blur asks.

Marella turns to me, asking, “Dex, have you found Godzilla yet?”

“I would have told you immediately if I had.”

“Exile. What’s taking so long?” Stina asks, with slightly less venom in her tone than usual.

I shrug. “Sometimes technology is like that. I’m sure it’ll come back right after another lead turns up.”

“That would be our luck, wouldn’t it?” Linh mumbles.

“What is happening here?” Granite asks, thoroughly perplexed.

Tam answers simply, “Sapphics.”

“Ah, okay. That makes sense.”

“Not to be a total idiot,” Blur begins. “But why should we be worried about how Keefe’s ability plays into all of this? It’s not as though we know where he is.”

Fitz, Biana, and I make involuntary eye contact, and Uncle Grady knows something is up. “What are you three hiding?”

“Nothing,” we all say in unison, too fast, highly suspicious. I mean there’s so many things but, nope, I’m hiding absolutely nothing.

Forkle demands, “What do you know?”

Fitz looks at Biana and I before saying, “If you won’t tell him, I will.”

“You started this whole mess,” Biana mutters.

“Please, for the love of the stars, just tell us,” Wraith begs.

“Keefe’s been living in my closet--in a literal sense; we don’t need to get into the connotative meaning of that today--for the past couple of weeks.”

The room dissolves into chaeos once again, but this time any and all attempts to regain order are futile.

Sophie wanders over to me, asking, “How long have you been roped into this?”

“Honestly? No clue. It’s been a while. Fitz has been hiding him for at least a few weeks. He’d say it’s felt like years. I’m not entirely sure. I have no sense of time.”

“Why didn’t you…why didn’t you tell me he was here?”

Please don’t hate me for this answer. “Logistics. One fewer person that knows means there’s one fewer chance it could make its way back to Gisela.”

“You don’t trust me?” The worry crease is here in full force.

“You and I both know that if you knew, Sandor would too. And if he knew, he would sell Keefe out to save you without a second thought. And I know you would protest, but that wouldn’t change Gigantor’s mind.”

“Stop having valid arguments.”

“Don’t worry. That’s the only halfway decent argument I’m allowed to have this week.”

Sophie smiles, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

I look out into the yelling crowd we’re collectively choosing to ignore. “They’re gonna keep doing this all this week, right?”

“Yeah. They might stop for food at some point but yeah.”

She and I sit down on the nearest sofa with that, and I wave Fitz over here. Totally because of his knee that I don’t want to have to stand. Totally.

He sees me after a moment, and, while walking over here, says, “I hope I didn’t do a terrible job with the whole presentation.” Fitz sits down next to me.

“Better than I would’ve done.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“You go on believing whatever you want. Even if it is wrong.”

Fitz graces us with a soft smile, and I forget how to breathe a little bit.

Hey Dex… Fitz begins telepathically. What would you say if I maybe told Sophie about us?

I forget how to breathe entirely. Sweet rot, you just referred to our insanity as an ‘us’...Shut up, Dex. Fitz, it’ll inevitably be weird but I think you’ve tolerated me for long enough by now and I guess she should be told eventually. Why not now?

Fitz leans forward, “So, um, Sophie?”

Sophie shifts forward to see him, and I lean back in an attempt to not get in the way. “‘Tis I.”

“So you remember how I told you how I think I’m bi?”

When did that happen?

“Yeah,” Sophie replies.

Fitz looks at me, “Yeah, I told her. We can talk about it later. It was like a week after the incident about which we do not speak.” He turns to Sophie. “Do you remember how, in that conversation, we spoke about someone to whom we only referred as ‘my current hyperfixation’?”

Thanks.

“Yes, of course,” Sophie answers.

“So I took your advice and tried to patch up everything that I messed up. The jury is still out on how effective that was, but we’re dating now. We’ve only gone out officially a few times but I figured now’s as good a time as any to let you know.”

Sophie smiles, having to know, “But who is this mystery boyfriend, may I ask?”

I turn to her and offer my hand in a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”

Sophie takes an excruciatingly long second to process before throwing her arms around me so tight that I can’t breathe.

She doesn’t hate me. Thank the stars.

“I’m so happy for you,” she whispers in my ear before pulling away just enough to allow me to have a small amount of oxygen. “And you too, Fitz!”

She pulls away completely. “As I am friends with the both of you, please know that if either of you hurts the other, I will hurt you.”

Fitz and I both giggle.

“Not gonna lie, I was kind of convinced you’d hate me. Considering all the Fitzphie drama.”

“We don’t talk about that; I had my chance. And, besides, you two are adorable together. How did I not see this before?”

“Because we are very firmly in the closet,” Fitz mutters.

“And we would greatly appreciate your discretion with this new information,” I say.

“Of course! Is that even a question?”

“Let us be paranoid.” I pause, debating with myself. “While we’re talking about this, I think I’m going to add xe/xem to my pronoun set. But then change the possessive form from xyr to xor. For reasons I don’t think you want to hear me ramble about today.”

“Cool. Let me know if anything changes with regards to your pronoun hoard,” replies Sophie, smiling.

“You don’t know how nice it is to not have to explain these things,” I laugh.

“The Lost Cities are so straight. What else did you expect?” Fitz asks.

“Yes, but the thing is: the Lost Cities aren’t all that straight. The longer I’m gay, the more people I find out are also not straight.”

“Literally like the only one I know is Keefe. He’s pan. He wants me to tell anyone who’s willing to listen,” Fitz says.

“You say that when you learned of two more today,” I add.

“Yes, but I’m not allowed to acknowledge either of them.”

“Do you want another one for the pile?” Sophie asks, blushing fiercely.

Neither of us argue with that offer.

“Fair warning: this has not been totally solved yet. But I know for a fact that I’m not exactly straight.”

“Is Biana or Linh causing the gay thoughts?” I ask, smiling.

Sophie laughs. “Yes.”

Surprised she figured that out, considering how oblivious she is about Keefe, Fitz transmits. I barely contain a laugh.

“Also, gender is a very interesting thing.”

“That is a very true fact,” I reply.

“I might try she/he. I don’t totally know. Just to keep you updated with my insanity.”

“My mental dictionary has been updated,” I give him a quick squeeze, smiling.

“Mine too,” Fitz adds. “And I apologise in advance for when I inevitably mess up.”

“As long as you’re trying your best, that’s enough,” Sophie replies. “I’ll probably be just as bad, if not worse.”

#Look it's getting slightly more cisn't #Yeah this is called i knew my plot was winding to a climax so everybody you're getting out of your closets whether you like it or not

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archived-and-moving · 2 years

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I-I’m sorry?

#we've seen soforkle #we've seen soalden #what about Forklen #kotlc #alden vacker #mr. forkle #sophie foster #neverseen spoilers

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fintan-pyren · 3 years

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*Spoilers for pretty much all of the Keeper series*

Okay. *takes a deep breath and adjusts my tin foil hat*

I think Keefe is the real Moonlark, not Sophie.

Basically: Black Swan creates the Moonlark, who is Keefe. They try to give him extra abilities. Gisencen creates the Neverlark, who is Sophie. She gives her similar abilities to avoid suspicion. Gisencen switches the embryos so that the Black Swan thinks they have the real Moonlark, but actually have Sophie, who is a defective version of the Moonlark.

In Legacy, Alvacker and Keefe are chatting about legacies and abilities. Alvacker points out that Gisencen, as a polyglot, has prime genetics for manifesting twice. Would Shannon really just arbitrarily put in something about Gisencen having good genes for manifesting multiple abilities? No. That's going to be an important point later in the series.

And in another of the books, Forklenator mentioned that he didn't mean to make Sophie an enhancer or teleporter or intend to give her a photographic memory or strange eyes. Sophie is close to what they were trying to make, but she's a bit different than they were expecting.

Solution: Sophie is not the Moonlark that the Black Swan tried to make. She's actually the daughter of Gisencen and Cassius, and those traits arose from their modifications to her genetics.

We know that Sophie is supposed to have an empath as a parent since she uses her telepathy similarly to an empath. Cassius is an empath, so this fits.

And let's talk about appearance. Keefe has slim facial features and blonde hair. Oralie (the confirmed mother of the Moonlark) has delicate facial features and blonde hair. Though Sophie has blonde hair and a slim build, her facial features have not been described as slim or delicate. Her resemblance to Oralie is only superficial, when in fact Keefe looks a lot more like Oralie.

And you know how Cassius is always a jerk to Keefe because he doesn't follow in his footsteps? Keefe doesn't act much like Cassius because they aren't related

(His eye color and hair color mean nothing- Gisela and Cassius are both blonde with ice blue eyes, but they definitely aren't related. It's just a really common look for elves. Marella, Caprise Redek, and Fintan are also blondes with ice blue eyes)

Meanwhile, Sophie is surprisingly similar to her real father, Cassius. When they first met, Cassius actually made a comment about them being similar, if I remember correctly.

When they made the Moonlark, the Black Swan tried to give him three abilities: Telepath, Inflictor and Polyglot. They messed up and Keefe didn't fully get those abilities, but they still impact him a bit. Since he's partially a polyglot, he's really good at mimicking voices (good enough to steal the caches). His telepathy makes him seem like a really amazing empath (he's subconsciously picking up on thoughts in addition to emotions). And his inflicting allows him to send the calming waves of emotion over people when he's enhanced, and also forms the basis of his new ability in Unlocked (his commands are basically a supercharged version of inflicting).

In response to the Moonlark, Gisencen decides to make the Neverlark, who we know as Sophie. She tries to copy the Black Swan's creation as much as possible to avoid suspicion, and gives Sophie the same abilities as the Black Swan tried to give Keefe, with the addition of enhancing and teleportation because those are really helpful. The 5 vials of glowing liquid she and Cassius drink in Legacy correspond to those 5 abilities. Since Gisencen has really good genetics for having multiple abilities, it's really easy to give her daughter Sophie multiple abilities and she actually succeeds, unlike the Black Swan.

The black vial that Gisencen and Cassius drink forms the basis of the plot. It caused Sophie to have a "self-destruct" mechanism that Gisencen can trigger to break Sophie's mind. She has triggered this once before, in book 1 when Sophie was kidnapped by the Neverseen (resulting in the bit fiasco of Exile). This allows her to disable the Moonlark, so she can disrupt the Black Swan's plan whenever she wants to.

The Black Swan still don't know about this. Elwin is going to figure it out with his special lights and glasses in book 9 or 10, but he'll die before he can tell anyone (sorry, Elwin).

#keeper of the lost cities #kotlc #keefe sencen

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norwegian-trickster-god · 6 months

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I have made a terrible mistake.

I gave sophie and marella hair dye.

i'm scared.

they're probably going to put it in my hair when im asleep.

please send help.

#forklenator #kotlc #kotlc rp #kotlc shitpost #kotlc sophie #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc incorrect quotes

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thelordhunkyhair · 5 months

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Fork man: Stop buying plastic skeletons for Halloween! It's terrible for the environment!

Sophie: Yeah! Locally sourced, all natural skeletons are much more environmentally friendly!

#kotlc #kotlc fandom #original #words #kotlc sophie #incorrect kotlc quotes #kotlc keefe #writing #keefe sencen #kotlc forkle #mr forkle #fork man #forklenator #fork #sophie kotlc #sophie sencen #sophie #sophie foster #keeper of the lost cities

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3potatoesinatrenchcoat · 1 year

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Keefe: I’m quick at math.

Mr.Forkle: Ok, what’s 38 times 76?

Keefe: 24.

Mr.Forkle: That wasn’t even close.

Keefe: But it was quick.

#koltc #keeper of the lost cities #koltc keefe #keefe sencen #koltc forkle #mr. forkle #Fork man #the forklenator

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ellatheblueelephant · 4 years

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Ella The Sorting Hat VII

Just found this in my drafts. Hasnt been edited since I wrote it what was probably years ago. Enjoy. So, I’ve been holding off on doing Keefe because, personally, it’s really hard for me to sort him, and I’ve been going around and around and around in circles trying to figure out which house he’d be sorted into. I mean, he could literally fit in any of them. And I mean any house. Let’s start with Hufflepuff, because I think it’s the easiest to rule out. Hufflepuffs value hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play. Keefe is lazy, inconsistent, and he cheats like no other because, as we learn throughout the books, Keefe likes to win. Yes, he is very loyal to his friends, and he definitely values that loyalty. We see it tearing him apart in Neverseen, when he’s coming to terms with the fact that his mother used him to spy on his friends all those years. But valuing loyalty isn’t enough to make him a Hufflepuff. So sadly, my house is out. Next let’s look at Slytherin. Keefe is incredibly clever. All his pranks, his witty dialogue, snappy comebacks, and light humor prove this. However, Lord Cassius is a textbook Slytherin. He’s clever, ambitious, ruthless, and resourceful. He knows how to spin any situation to his advantage. And bottom line, Keefe doesn’t want to be anything like his father. Remember in the books how Harry’s strong aversion to Draco Malfoy was the main reason the Sorting Hat didn’t place him in that house? After all, Slytherin was the first name it suggested. Keefe’s aversion to being like his father in any way would probably be enough to completely rule out this house as a possibility. Some say Keefe is a Gryffindor. And yes, he does have Gryffindor traits. He’s brave in the face of danger and adversity, he’s incredibly loyal to his friends through thick and thin, he’s got nerve to spare, and he’s very chivalrous, offering Sophie his cloak and making sure to always keep her safe. And like Fred and George Weasley, he’s a bit of a class clown. Or class troublemaker. But unlike Fred and George, Keefe has a passion for knowledge. Why do you think he gets so invested in helping Sophie? Because he wants to know what’s going on. He also thinks she’s cute, and she’s his friend, but if he wasn’t genuinely interested, he wouldn’t spend so much time trying to decipher those clues from the Black Swan. And he spends plenty of time writing clues of his own (which ACTUALLY rhyme. I'm looking at you Forklenator). Which brings us to the last possible house and our conclusion: Keefe Sencen is a Ravenclaw. I don’t come to this conclusion simply be process of elimination. Yes, he doesn’t fit in any of the other houses, but unexpectedly, I think Keefe would fit in with the Ravenclaws. He’s effortlessly smart. So smart he doesn’t have to study to do well. But he still does care about doing well. He might not show it, or flaunt the fact that he’s smart, but he does well enough to stay in the school. Which means above a 75% on midterms (I think) and above an 80% on finals (I think). Keefe is incredibly clever. And in order to get into the Ravenclaw common room you have to answer a riddle. Doesn’t that sound like Keefe? Protecting his secrets not only with changing passwords but changing riddles? And along with this cleverness is a sharp tongue and a wit that tends to get him into some trouble. He’s intuitive. Empathy is a power for intuitive people, people who are constantly observing the world around them and figuring out what the signs mean in the people and world around them. Keefe always knows what Sophie and the rest of their friends are feeling, not just because hes an empath but because he's a good friend who pays attention. Not to mention, Ravenclaws will go to great lengths to support their friends. Remember when Luna Lovegood bewitched a hat into a life-size lion’s head to support Ron? Or when Cho supported Melanie even after she betrayed Dumbledore’s Army? Well, Keefe crossed an ocean, did a ton of research, and is constantly supporting Sof even when she doesn't know. He pulls elaborately planned pranks. But they’re well thought out, and even though he gets his share of detentions, he’s careful to never leave behind any incriminating evidence. After all, has Dame Alina ever found evidence he was the mastermind behind the Great Gulon Incident? I think not.

#keeper of the lost cities #kotlc #keefe sencen #keefe is a ravenclaw #keefe

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